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Jesus vs Buddha

“Nothing can damn a man but his own righteousness; nothing can save him but the righteousness of Christ.” Charles Spurgeon

Jesus versus Buddha

Jesus and Buddha are founders of two of the largest religions in the world. Both of them desire of making the world better, letting people love together and giving happiness to all the people in the world. However, Christianity unlike Buddhism is unique in that it strips us of our self-righteousness by exposing our sinful nature, and causes us to see that our only hope is for God to reach down to us in mercy.

Jesus was born approximately 2040 years ago. The birth of Jesus was revealed to his mother, Mary, by the angel Gabriel, who prophesized, "The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:32-33)(The Holy Bible NIV, 2003). Similarly, Queen Maya, the mother of the Buddha, had a vision in which she was carried by the gods to a sacred place and Buddha entered her womb. Both births were in unusual places, which the mother of the child had to travel to. Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, many miles from his hometown of Nazareth. Mary laid him in a manger. Buddha was born in a grove of sala trees at which his mother stopped while traveling from her home to her native city. Jesus' birth was accompanied by divine signs, such as choirs of angels and a new star. Three wisemen visited Jesus sometime in his infancy, worshipping him and presenting him with luxurious gifts. Siddhartha's birth was announced by the earth and heavens singing his praises. Siddhartha was also visited by a total of one hundred eight Brahmins, who were considered the wisest men of India. Instead of worshipping him, they tried to divine his destiny in the world (Groothuis, 2004). Buddhism is the belief system of those who follow Buddha, the Enlightened One. It was founded as a form of atheism. It is the...

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Buddha
“The Enlightened” or “Awakened One”
Siddhartha Gautama, or better know as Buddha, was born a Prince to King of the Shakyas tribe in 600 BCE in Nepal (formerly Northern India). Siddhartha’s mother died seven days after giving birth, but it was prophesized that her son would become a great King, military leader or spiritual leader. After his wife’s death the King built their son his own palace to shelter him from, not only religion, but the hardships and miseries of the world. Before Buddha’s death in 300 BCE, he will become known for many great achievements. However, before all his great accomplishments he lived his early life in solitude.
Due to an arrangement, Buddha was married off at the age of 16. Even after his young marriage, he continued to live in isolation for another 13 years. In his late twenties he was unaware of the world surrounding him. When he finally ventured out, Buddha was quickly identified with human suffering by seeing an elderly man. His charioteer began to explain to him that all people grow old eventually. Throughout his outing, he came across a decaying body, a diseased man and much more. It was when he came to an ascetic that his charioteer explained to him they renounce the world in order to release themselves from the human fear of death and suffering.
Becoming overwhelmed by the world around him, Siddhartha left his kingdom at the age of 29. Leaving behind his...

...figures, Buddha and Jesus who had religious experiences and became well known as the founders of their religion. The reason I chose these two people is because Jesus is a well known figure of Christianity and I wanted to compare it to a religion that is more known in the Eastern culture, which is Buddhism.
Jesus Christ was born to Joseph and Mary born in a manger and was first discovered by some wise men traveling through the dessert. His childhood consisted of growing in the town of Nazareth where he was baptized at the age of 30. Shortly after being baptized, Jesus was led into the dessert by God where he fasted for forty days. While fasting, the devil tried to tempt Jesus 3 times, but he did not give in to temptation. When Jesus returned from the dessert he started preaching and teaching the ways of God to the people of Nazareth. “He started to perform miracles that included healings, exorcisms, walking on water, turning water into wine, and raising several people, from the dead.” (Wikipedia) He had 12 apostles which soon become his disciples and followers. They were told by Jesus to spread the word of God and to warn people of the ending of this world until everything remained perfect. Jesus and his followers traveled to Jerusalem during a Passover festival and they were greeted with great joy. While there he made one of the kings unhappy, was...

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Gautama Buddha was the founder of Buddhism. The religious philosophy of Buddhism is
contained in the first sermon of Buddha at Sarnath, near Varanasi. The essence of
Buddhism is contained in Gautama Buddha’s teachings which consist of Four Noble
Truths and the Eightfold Path. The four noble truths are:
1. The world is full of suffering.
2. Suffering is caused by human desires.
3. The renunciation of desires is the path of salvation.
4. Salvation can be attained easily by following the Eightfold Path which constitute
the following:
I. Right belief
II. Right thought
III. Right speech
IV. Right action
V. Right means of livelihood
VI. Right meditation
VII. Right effort
VIII. Right remembrance or memory.
The Eightfold Path was described as the middle path
luxuries of ordinary life and the extreme austerity
Middle -Path, one can attain the ultimate goal life
peace and bliss, freedom from all worldly evils and
cycle of birth and death.
lying between the excessive
of Jainism. By following the
which is Nirvana, the eternal
desires as well as from the
According to the Buddha, Nirvana means a peaceful state of mind in which all desires
become completely extinct. This state of mind makes a person free from the cyclic
chain of birth and death.
Just like Hinduism and Jainism, Buddhism also recognizes the Law of Karma. Buddha
believed that man is the maker of his own destiny. If he does good deeds...

...Philosophy and Common Sense
As famous historic figures, Buddha and Socrates may be known as the smartest men on earth. They have set the standards in understanding religion and common sense. Both were respected leaders who many like to think started a revolution. Writings based upon their lives used to be and still are considered the basis of life to some people. As different as they are on the outside, they could be exactly the same from the inside.
In Plato’s writing, Apology, Socrates defends himself against the court for not recognizing the gods recognized by the state. Because of a prophecy by the Oracle at Delphi saying he is the wisest man, he takes it as a command from Apollo to question men who think they are wiser. As soon as he does that, it makes him look less humble and is looked down upon because he should never try to outsmart the gods by trying to do their job. Even though Socrates says he doesn’t think he is any better than any other man, he still tries to compare himself with other known wise men. “However, I reflected as I walked away: 'Well, I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that neither of us has any knowledge to boast of; but he thinks that he knows something which he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious of my ignorance. At any rate it seems that I am wiser than he is to this small extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know'” (Ap. 21 d-e). Socrates was starting to realize that he was...

...Buddhism:
Major global "religion" with complex system of beliefs.
-The Four Noble Truths
-The Noble Eightfold Path
-Karma- if you live a good life, good things will happen to you and vise versa.
-Cycle of Rebirth
Siddhartha Gautama:
-Founder of Buddhism
- Lived 566 (?) - 480 (?) B.C.E.
- Son of Indian warrior/king
-Privileged but bored
- Wandered in search of understanding
Suffering:
- Lay at the end of all existence
- Based on interaction with an old man, an ill man, a corpse and an ascetic (hermit)
- Renounced princely title
- Deprived himself of worldly possessions
Mediation:
- Understood how to be free from suffering and achieve salvation.
- Became known as Buddha- "Enlightened One"
- Traveled and taught the remainder of his life.
The Four Noble Truths:
- Essence of Buddha's teaching
- Leave much unexplained
Basically:
Truth of suffering (Dukkha) - it exists
Truth of the cause of suffering - caused by desire and ignorance
Truth of the end of suffering - it has an end
Truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering - follow the Noble Eightfold Path
Not Negative:
- Pragmatic (practical) perspective
- Deals with the world as it is
- Attempts for rectify
- Pleasure and happiness are fleeting and unquenchable
- In the end, only aging, sickness, and death are certain and unavoidable
Truth 1 & 2:
Suffering Exists & Causes of Suffering
- Desire and ignorance are the root of suffering.
-...

...Impact of Jesus
History of Western Civilization
If there was a debate focusing on the question of who is the most important, influential, or impactful person in the history of the world, Jesus Christ and Chuck Norris would be neck and neck for the top spot. Although Chuck may present an interesting case, Jesus has to take the cake for how he influenced entire cultures and their cultural beliefs during his time on earth, and almost 2000 years later in the modern era. The amount of lives he has touched is astronomical and continues to grow each and every day.
The impact of Jesus on a day-to-day basis is greatly underestimated. Jesus has accounted for more touchdowns, homeruns, goals, wins, and championships than can even begin to be counted. He has cured more cases of cancer, eliminated more addictions, gotten people out of sticky situations, and simply brightened peoples’ days with little things more than anybody could ever imagine.
Granted, these depend on a given person’s religious beliefs, and not everybody tends to thank Christ for the former situations, as well as many others. It can be debated whether Jesus was divine and the son of God, or just a prophet. What cannot be debated is the fact that millions upon millions of people have faith in him, which undeniably affects their lives.
Although Jesus is not universally viewed in the same way some people, for...

...Buddha
There are many Buddha's in the world. The story by Ashvaghosha called The Life of Buddha talks about the original Buddha, and how he came to be. Sculptures and pictures of Buddha always have the same features. From the Art Institute in Chicago comes a sculpture of Buddha from China. These two things have a lot in common. The parts of the body in the sculptures depict certain things about a Buddha's life and the way Buddhism spread though Asia influenced the arts depicting Buddha.
Most works of art involving Buddha have features that are almost always there. Whenever a person sees Buddha, he always has most of the ten qualities or powers of a Buddha, described in Story of the Life of Buddha Shakyamuni. However there are thirty-two major characteristics and eight minor, among them is the eight-spoked lines on the soles and palms. The spot between Buddha's eyebrows, sometimes calls the third eye or wisdom bump, is a mark of wisdom. The nose has a specific length like the ears have their own characteristics. The enlightenment-elevation on the top of the head, describe by old texts as emerging from the head of a saint, symbolize Buddha's enlightenment and is a visible symbol of the "spiritual generative power that strives toward heaven and passes into the immaterial sphere." (Buddhist Art: Perfect Proportions of a...

...Jesus the Christ and Mohammed no two single men have touched more lives. They founded two related yet separate religions that today have seem to become the main stream of society around the world. In the year, “0” B.C. near the town of Bethlehem Jesus was born. Almost 600 years later in the town of Mecca the Prophet Mohammed was born. These two events changed the course of history for all humankind.
Jesus’ life was ministry and death. Much of the early life of Jesus Christ is a mystery. The preponderance of information on or about his life is found in the four gospels of the New Testaments. Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary in the year “0” B.C. near the town of Bethlehem in a manger outside of an inn. This humble beginning was the foreshadowing of a life of humility and service. At the age of 12 Jesus was seen in the temple talking with, listening to and teaching many learned men. It was then that Jesus declared that he was the Son of God with a divine purpose here on earth. Jesus lived a traditional Jewish life as a simple carpenter. At the age of 30, Jesus was baptized and recognized by John the Baptist; it was now that he began his earthly ministry. The main points of Jesus’ teaching were that God loves you and is with you, to love one another, of the immense value of each person. The Good News: kingdom of God has come to earth....